BY THE OPTIMIST DAILY EDITORIAL TEAM
The beauty of the cherry blooms doesn’t last long, but that’s what makes it a spectacular phenomenon to catch each year.
Once the trees are fully open, you typically have one to two weeks before wind, rain, or a temperature swing brings them down. Knowing when to show up matters.
How cherry trees know when to bloom
Peak bloom is defined as the point when about 70 percent of the Yoshino cherry blossoms on a given tree are open. Getting there requires something called “chill hours,” the amount of time a tree needs to spend in cold temperatures during winter to trigger blooming. A prolonged deep freeze can push the timing back; mild weather accelerates it. After the cold and snowy winter most of the country just experienced, trees in most regions have had more than enough chill hours. How the next few weeks unfold will determine the exact window.
Washington, D.C.
The National Park Service, the National Cherry Blossom Festival, and the Trust for the National Mall have announced that D.C.’s peak bloom is expected between March 29 and April 1. The best viewing is along the Tidal Basin and the National Mall, where thousands of Yoshino cherry trees line the water. In recent years, peak bloom has been trending earlier, so it’s worth checking for updates as the date approaches.
The South
Southern states get cherry blossoms first. In Georgia, Tennessee, and Texas, peak bloom typically arrives about a week and a half to two weeks before D.C.
Macon, Georgia, is worth a trip if you can manage it. Macon-Bibb County has the largest concentration of cherry trees of any county in the country, with nearly 100 times more trees than the entire National Mall in Washington. The city’s International Cherry Blossom Festival runs from March 20 to 29 this year.
At the Dallas Arboretum in Texas, the Yoshino cherry blossoms are expected to open within the next few weeks.
The Midwest
Cherry blossoms across the Midwest bloom anywhere from late March to early May, depending on how far north you are. Missouri and Ohio typically peak in late March to mid-April. In Chicago, Jackson Park’s Columbia Basin, near the Garden of the Phoenix, is the spot to visit.
Door County, Wisconsin, sits on the later end, with peak bloom usually arriving in mid-May.
New York and New England
New York City has cherry blossoms scattered across several parks: Central Park, the Brooklyn Botanic Garden, Flushing Meadows-Corona Park in Queens, and Roosevelt Island. The Central Park Conservancy notes that blooms generally begin in late March and peak in mid- to late April, though changing climate patterns have made exact timing harder to predict in recent years.
In New England, cherry trees typically bloom about 20 days after D.C., landing in the second to third week of April. In New Haven, Connecticut, the annual Wooster Square Cherry Blossom Festival is scheduled for April 19.
The West
At the University of Washington in Seattle, buds have already appeared on the Yoshino cherry trees, which typically reach peak bloom from late March to early April.
Portland, Oregon, has 100 cherry trees along Tom McCall Waterfront Park, plus a curated collection at the Portland Japanese Garden. The garden reports the Yoshino cherries are starting to wake up, with peak bloom expected sometime between late March and the first week of April.
Wherever you are, it’s worth making time for this one. Cherry blossom season has a short window, and it reliably pulls people out of their routines and into parks, waterfronts, and public spaces. Get out there and enjoy the blooms!
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